bob orr is in washington. bob, good morning to you. i want to understand who is abu hamza al masri. >> reporter: good morning. well, abu hamza al masri is a leading radical islam cleric. best known perhaps for his fiery preaching in north london mosque which was favored in the past by al qaeda operatives like richard reid and the 9/11 conspirators. he's been in a british jail since 2004. he's been charged by the u.s. government in a series of plots, one thing he's accused of conspiring to kidnap american tourists in 1998 and setting up an al qaeda training camp in oregon in 1999. he started with aiding taliban and al qaeda efforts in afghanistan. >> how come it has taken so long to bring masri to the united states? >> reporter: this has been a long fight. he's been fighting extradition since his m dictment because he knows frankly he faces a life sentence here in the u.s. one of his alleged co-conspirators has already been convicted and he's sentenced to life in prison. masri is an interesting character. he lost both hands and one eye